Generals back W.H. on abuse photos

President Barack Obama is enlisting two of his top generals to justify his decision to reverse course on the release of photos of detainee abuse, as the Justice Department pleads with a federal court to withdraw an order to disclose the photos.

The public versions of the declarations Gens. David Petraeus and Ray Odierno filed Thursday shed little light on the content of the disputed photos of prisoners allegedly abused in U.S. military custody, though Odierno said some of the images might offend “Arab cultural values.”

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The Justice Department is asking the court to recall its mandate issued on April 27 requiring the government to reveal the pictures in connection with a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups.

Obama initially agreed to release the photos but angered some of the supporters on the left when he reversed course, saying it would put U.S. service members’ lives in danger.

“I have concluded that the official release of those images, even if redacted to obscure identifying information could reasonably be expected to adversely impact current military, political and civil efforts” in the Middle East and beyond, Petraeus, who heads up the U.S. Central Command, wrote in his declaration accompanying the motion.

Petraeus also said the images would “further endanger the lives of U.S. soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors, civilians and contractors presently serving there,” Petraeus declared.

The court filing came on the same day the Pentagon and the White House denied a report in the London Daily Telegraph that the photos Obama is seeking to withhold from the ACLU include images of prisoners being raped. It was not clear if officials were denying the existence of the photos or simply denying that they were at issue in the pending lawsuit.

The court filings by Petraeus and Gen. Raymond Odierno, also revealed some of the current U.S. military thinking on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The two generals, for instance, portrayed the situation in Iraq as on a razor’s edge.

Odierno, the commander of U.S. and multinational forces in Iraq, said the small teams of U.S. personnel installed on Iraqi bases and outposts would be in particular danger if new photos of alleged abuse were released. “The photos will likely cause a very public and emotional response in Iraq and in the larger Arab world because the images may touch on a number of deep-rooted Arab cultural values that will resonate with the Iraqi public,” he wrote. “This could be a destabilizing event for the prime minister and his government.”

The photos could even prompt some Iraqis thought to be loyal to the U.S. to switch sides, Odierno argued. “The publicity over the images could incite additional attacks on U.S. personnel by members of the Iraq Security Forces (“green-on-blue attacks”).

Odierno said the U.S. government’s concerns about the impact of the photos on upcoming Iraqi elections were based in part on discussions with an unnamed Sunni member of the Iraqi Parliament who said, “the Iraqi people would react poorly.”

Petraeus also said release of the photos would undermine the Pakistani government and complicate its cooperation with the U.S. “Newly released photos depicting abuse of detainees in U.S. military custody in Afghanistan and Iraq would negatively affect the ongoing efforts by Pakistan to counter its internal extremist threat,” the general said.

Petraeus warned that, in Iraq, release of the photos could bolster those arguing that Iraqi citizens should have the right to vote up or down on key agreements with the U.S. “Pressure will mount on the prime minister to allow for a national referendum on the Security Agreement and the Strategic Framework Agreement,” the general said. He implied, but did not say directly, that the U.S. would view such a plebiscite as unwelcome.

The government asked for the stay in order to petition the Supreme Court to hear the case or to allow for the passage of pending legislation that would allow the government to keep the photos under wraps.

Petraeus said that while 21 images were directly covered by the court’s order, “a substantial number” of additional images are covered by the ACLU’s request.

An ACLU attorney, Jameel Jaffer, had no immediate comment on the government’s filing. However, the ACLU has said previously that the government, under the Bush administration, made similar national security arguments to the courts, which considered and rejected them.

The government filing acknowledges that Gen. Richard Myers, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, submitted similar statements in court in 2005. While Odierno portrayed the situation in Iraq as on a razor’s edge, he conceded that “conditions in Iraq have improved since” the earlier declarations filed by Myers and Ham. “Iraq today is safer, but it is not without risk,” Odierno wrote.

Portions of the Petraeus and Odierno declarations were classified secret and blacked out in the copies released to the public and lawyers for those seeking release of the photos.